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O’Gorman, Kevin D. and Prentice, Richard C. and Maclaren, Andrew C. (2008) Iranian hospitality: embodiment, experience and representation. In: Royal Geographical Society / IBG Annual International Conference 2008, 2008-10-26 - 2008-10-29, London, England. Strathprints is designed to allow users to access the research output of the University of Strathclyde. c and Moral Rights for the papers on this site are retained by the individual authors Copyright and/or other copyright owners. You may not engage in further distribution of the material for any profitmaking activities or any commercial gain. You may freely distribute both the url (http:// strathprints.strath.ac.uk/) and the content of this paper for research or study, educational, or not-for-profit purposes without prior permission or charge. Any correspondence concerning this service should be sent to Strathprints administrator: mailto:
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O'Gorman, Kevin D. and Prentice, Richard C. and Maclaren, Andrew C. (2008) Iranian hospitality: embodiment, experience and representation. In: Royal Geographical Society / IBG Annual International Conference 2008, 26-29 Oct 2008, London, England.
http://eprints.cdlr.strath.ac.uk/6900/
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Relevance 1: Bazaars / Caravanserais are becoming commoditised and symbolic of Middle Eastern heritage
Iranian Hospitality: Embodiment, Experience and Representation Richard Prentice, Kevin O’Gorman and Andrew MacLaren Royal Geographical Society: Geographies of Hospitality 2008
Relevance 2
Rationale
Ethnographic method has changed
1. Dissatisfaction with conceptualisations of the origins of hospitality & tourism
Empiricist / Structuralist
§ §
Interpretative / New Journalism / Poetics (Denzin 1997; van Manen 2002)
Ethnocentrici ty Gaps
2. Dissatisfaction with the uses of ethnography in hospitality & tourism discourse §
Pri vileging of the often single ethnographer
3. Need for multiple ethnographies §
Expressivism / Expressive Perception (Rudd 2003)
§
As historical records ha ve been destro yed and an ywa y can not con ve y emotions easily As people react differentl y in what is highly interpreta ti ve
Multiple ethnography in hospitality?
Methodological scrutiny of key ethnographers in hospitality and tourism?
Crang (1996)
Palmer (2005)
Number of citations of paper investigated
19
4
Number of authors discussing foci of method
2
0
Number of authors discussing operationalisation of method
0
0
§ Concern 1 Users of ethnographies are privileging the ethnographers by using individual interpretations as infrequently questioned ‘truths’
§ Concern 2 Rarely are ethnographies contested, unlike journalistic interpretations
§ Concern 3 Rarely are multiple ethnographies undertaken on the same society or sub-grouping to explore alternative interpretations
1
Built Environment As Text – Traditional Approaches The built environment is used as a text b y reflecting and analysing the cityscape; the cityscape is “a story people tell themselves about themselves.” Geertz (1977: 448) Historical Architecture Identify the architect, analyze the work, and put Hillenbrand (1994) the architect's work into the larger context of his time and region Social Architecture Blake (1999)
The built environment reflects the social system of the time and the ways in which that system is expressed, reproduced, and experienced and therefore reflects the structure of urban life
Case Study 1: Interpretation in Caravanserais
Built Environment As Text – Building on Past Approaches Historical Architecture Hillenbrand (1994) Social Architecture Blake (1999)
Identify the architect, analyze the work, and put the architect's work into the larger context of his time and region The built environment reflects the social system of the time and the ways in which that system is expressed, reproduced, and experienced and therefore reflects the structure of urban life
Interpretative – Expressive Ethnography
The built environment as experienced, inferred and represented by an outsider in time or culture
Caravansarai ‘a house for a caravan’. Sarai - ‘large house’ Karban ‘one who protects trade’.
2
Typic al L ayo ut
1200 Years of History in Middle East Establish caravanserais in your lands so that whenever a Muslim passes by, you will put him up for a day and a night and take care of his animals; if he is sic k, provide him with hospitality for two days and two nights; and if he has used up all of his provisions and is unable to continue, supply him with whatever he needs to reach his hometown. Samarkand, Uzbekistan 719A.D.
Caravanserai at Dayr-I Gachin 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17
Gate W atch to w ers O ffic e E n tran c e lo b b y C o u rty ard S tab les B as ic ro o m S tan d ard ro o m P res tig io u s ro o m S u ite S tairs to ro o f M ill P riv ate co u rty ard M osque B ath H o u s e T o ilets C o rn er to w er ro o m
Case Study 2: Interpretative – Expressive Ethnography in Bazaars
C = Caravanserai E = Madrasa M = Mosque
3
Unusual opportunity… § Three hospitality academics interested in a similar phenomenon: the development of Islamic hospitality and its relevance for understanding the development of hospitality generally § Common purpose of each author’s trips: to locate, explore & record the caravanserais associated with the bazaar § Number of field trips made: Co-author 1 (2 trips); Co-author 2 (5); Coauthor 3 (1)
W hy use phot ogr aphs? § Photos were taken by each author spontaneously or as aide memoires; they had not been intended to resource the present analysis. § Contemporary form of expression, like blogs § Highly personal: in taking, composition, manipulation, and selection
Laddering of int er pret at ion of phot ographs for present analysis § § §
What is the photo of? (content) Why is the photo important to me? (meaningfulness) What does the photo remind me of? (associations) Each co-author responded for their own photos using up to three levels of significance for each level on the ladder:
Prim ary
Secondary
Specifics
Over view of Findings
Analysis and Conclusions
Three ethnographers interested in much the same hospitality phenomenon interpret it in quite different wa ys across: § Content § Meaningfulness § Associations In particular in terms of: § Nuancing § Use of hierarchies
4
Content features arranged by Co-author 1
Range in number of photo selected for analysis and features identified by each of the three co-authors Co-author 1 Co-author 2 Co-author 3 Total Photos
290
68
71
Content
611
68
71
Meaningfulness
471
105
67
Associations
79
16
52
Retailers; Artisans; Shoppers; Worshippers; Resident; Motorist
Bazaar People Imagery Commercial Functionality – Artisan Compar ison Goods Trades
Basketry; Metal work; Carpet trade; Other workshops
Commercial Functionality – Recreational Consumption
Tourism; Teahouse
Commercial Functionality – Domestic Consumption
Food; Consumer durables; Books
Architecture
Main entrance to bazaar; Bazaar lighting; Bazaar roadways; Former bath house; Former caravanserais; Mosques; Madrasa; Shrine; Other details
Sincerity Weather
Co-author 3
Contriving ethnographic commonality?
Self Bazaar Brickw ork Chamber
Mapping content features across levels Content features arranged by
Co-author 1
Guide Ladies
Co-author 2
Mosque
Bazaar
Old light fixture Old Zoroastrian symbol
Caravanserai
Pr ayer room
Esfahan City
Shop Mosque
Skylight Spice stall
Co-author 2
Co-author 3
%
%
%
43.5
11.8
4.2
Mosques
3.8
26.5
36.6
Bazaar
49.1
58.8
50.7
Sincerity
1.0
-
-
Weather
1.0
-
-
Im agery
1.6
-
1.4
Guide
-
-
1.4
Self
-
-
5.6
Former caravanserai
Square Stall
Meaningfulness featur es arr anged by Co- author 1
Meaningfulness featur es arr anged by: Co-author 2
Co-author 3
Ar chitecture
Consumption foci
Form; Colours; Range; Contrast; Animation; Detail; Representation
Em otional consumption: Em otions evoked
Engagement; Beauty; Awe; Escape
Em otional consumption: Cultural im aginings
The exotic; Felt authenticity; Pastness; Continuity; Sincerity
Globalisation
Modernity
Ar chitecture
Colour
Bazaar
Difference
Brickwork
Emptiness
Colour
Environment
Contrast
Light
Faith
Memory aid
Fruit stall
Mes s
Handy work
Pastness
People
People
Square
Roof
Stall
Size
Unique
View
5
Contriving ethnographic commonality? Mapping meaningfulness features across levels Main features only
Co-author 1
Co-author 2
Co-author 3
%
%
%
Colours
14.2
20.0
3.0
Contrast/ difference
3.8
6.7
3.0
Anim ation/ people
2.5
18.1
13.4
Architectural details
2.3
1.0
25.4
Representation
5.7
3.9
1.5
Eng agement
3.0
19.0
-
Awe/ scale
6.8
3.8
23.8
Range/ variety
1.1
-
10.5
Form
13.2
-
-
Pastness
4.0
7.6
-
Everyday
8.1
2.9
3.0
Continuity/ faith
16.8
7.6
16.4
Associational features arranged by Co-author 1
Co-author 2 America
Places experienced
Iran; Continental Europe; British Isles; Africa; Elsew here
Places imagined
Iran; Near East in general; Europe; Afric a; Elsewhere
Non-places
Landscapes; Buildings; Artefacts
Pastness Spain Nazi Germ any Rome Star Wars
Contriving ethnographic commonality? Associational features arranged by Co-author 3 American Indians
La Defense
Skills
Books
Limes
Souvenirs
Boybands
Market
St Peter’s Square
Mapping associational features across levels Main features only
Places directly experienced
Co-author 1
Co-author 2
%
%
Co-author 3 %
62.0
68.8
23.1
Camels
Mediterranean
Stadiums
Generic places experienced
2.5
-
21.2
Catering equipment
Mosaics
Star Wars
25.2
-
-
Churches
Movies
The Holocaust
Places indirectly experienced through media
6.3
5.8
My grandpa
The Old Friday Mosque
Events indirectly exper ienced through media
-
Films Glasgow
Northern Africa
Third world
Buildings
7.6
-
19.2
Ice cream
School trips
Venice
Feelings
-
12.5
-
Iranians
Shops
World War II memorials
Conclusions
References
Origins of hospitality and tourism need to be located in nonEuropean cultures as well as European cultures The use of an ethnography needs to recognise its inseparability from the ethnographer Greater attention to methodology is required, not least as ethnographers are embracing their interpretivist – expressive role Multiple ethnographies are desirable in revealing commonalities and particularities of ethnographic interpretations / expressions
Blake, S.P. (1999) Half the World: The social architecture of Safavid Isfahan, 1590-1722. California: Mazda. Crang, M. (1996) Magic Kingdom or a quixotic quest for authenticity? Annals of Tourism Research, Vol.23, pp.415-431 Denzin, N.K. (1997) Interpretive Ethnography: Ethnographic Practices for the 21st Century. Thousand Oaks: Sage Geertz, C. (1977) Interpretation of Cultures. New York: Basic Books. Hillenbrand, R. (1994) Islamic Architecture: Form, Function, and Meaning. New York: Columbia University Press. Palmer, C. (2005) Ethnography of Englishness, Annals of Tourism Research, Vol.32, pp.7-27 Rudd, A. (2003) Expressing the Word: Skepticism, Wittgenstein, and Heidegger. Open Court: Chicago. Van Manen, M. (ed.) (2002) Writing in the Dark. London, Ontario: Althouse
A single ethnography is likely to be misleading, and multiple ethnographies are needed Or users need to be more circumspect
6